Sunday, August 13, 2006

Kioskcom - You Will Be Paying by Finger?

It’s no surprise that Pay By Touch was recently listed as one of the top 100 privately-held companies, based on market potential, customer adoption and investor value.

The reason the San Francisco firm is so hot — and its payment technology for finger-scans is being used in 44 states and the UK — is that people apparently like using it.

In South Carolina, a story this week said Piggly Wiggly shoppers there like the idea of walking in the store with nothing more than lint in their pockets and walking out with a week’s worth of groceries.

NRF (National Retail Federation) VP David Hogan said that biometrics “is going to really take off.”

Pay by Touch is also pioneering a flourishing check cashing business, using finger scans to identify individuals for the purpose of cashing paychecks and government checks.

The system has already cashed more than $8 billion at retail stores and, just this month, it signed its first bank customer.

If you consider how payment technology has moved from coins and cash to credit and debit cards, the finger-scan technology is a natural next step.